Corn harvester



March 25, 1924.

M. K. BROWN CORN HARVESTER F'iied July 19. 2 snets-sheet 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M. K. BROWN CORN HARVESTER Filed July 19. 1921 Mffrowz- Patented Z5,

MILLARD K. BROWN, OF EAG-LE GROVE, IOWA.

CORN HARVESTER.

Application iled .Tuly 13,

To all whom t may concern Be it known that l, MILLARD K. Bnown, a citizen of the United States, residing at Eagle Grove, in the county of fright and State of lowa, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Corn Harvesters, of which the following is a specifi-V cation.

rllhis invention relates to corn harvesters and has for its object the provision of an apparatus which may be connected with a farm wagon to travel at the side of the same and in its progress pick up the corn, 4effectually sever the ears from the stalks, remove the husks from the ears, and then deliver the ears into the wagon. The invention scelrs to provide an apparatus for the stated purpose which, while operating efficiently, will be of light draft and narrow gage and also free of complicated construe-tions and arrangements. The several stated objects and other objects which will incidentally appear in the course of the following description are attained in such mechanism as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, of an apparatus embodying my invention and coupled to a wagon in operative position;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, the relative position of the wagon being indicated by dotted lines and the line 1-1 upon this figure indicating the vertical plane upon which the section in Fig. 1 is taken:

Fig. 3 is a detail transverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

`Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the anchor plates which are secured to the wagon body and utilized to retain the corn harvesting mechanism in proper relation to the wagon.

The wagon 1 may be of any known or preferred type and in itself forms no part of my invention. Anchoring plates Y2, however, are secured tothe side of the wagon body near the ends thereof and these anchoring plates consist of angle irons having one web disposed flat against the side of the wagon body and secured rigidly thereto, the remaining web 3 projecting laterally from the body and being provided with notches 4:

in its edge which are engaged by hook links 1921. Serial No. 4.855332.

5 extending from the front and rear ends respectively of the-main fra-ine 6 of the harvesting attachment.

rl`he main frame 6 comprises spaced longitudinal bars or sills connected by short transverse bars and carrying bearings 'l' in which an axle 8 is `iournaled. Upon the inner end of the axle a traction wheel 9 is mounted and fitted with any preferred forni of escapement whereby, upon forward movement of the fra-me, motion will be imparted to the axle to rotate the saine, but if the frame be caused to travel baclrwairdly, the aXle will remain at rest. At the rear end of the frame 6, l erect standards 10 which are secured at their upper ends to the inclined elevator frame 11 and serve to support the rear portion of said frame. As has been stated, the links 5 form connections between the front and rear ends of the frame 6 and the wagon body so that the said frame will be caused to travel with the wagon and will be held against dropping therefrom. To aid in holding the wheel frame 6 to the wagonbody, I provide the lateral extension 12 which is secured rigidly to the inner side bar of the wheel frame and upon the said extension, l erect the vertical frame 13 which may be of any preferred form. From the said frame 13, a post 14 rises and this post is equipped at its upper end with a hook 15 adapted to engage over the upper edge of the wagon body and thereby prevent the wheel frame shifting laterally with respect thereto, as will be readily understood upon reference to) Fig. 2.

Upon the axle 8 is secured a driving gear 13 which meshes with a beveled pinion 17 on the rear end of a longitudinal driving shaft 18 which is journaled in suitable bearing brackets 19 on the under side of the frame 6 and is equipped at its front end with a beveled gear 20. The beveled gear 2O meshes with a similar gear 21 secured upon the counter-shaft 22 which is `journaled in suitable bearing brackets 23 on the under side of the elevator frame 11. The elevator frame comprises a plate having a depending outer flange, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3, and provided at a point intermediate its length with a slot or opening 24, a side wall 25 being secured to the said plate in the upper portion thereof and constituting a guard to prevent the corn dropping to the ground. The elevator frame further comprises an angle plate 26 havlng a longielevator frame and carries a sprocket at its upper end and a worm gear 3l at its lower end, the worin gear meshing with a worm 32 on the lower end of the shaft 22 whereby rotation is imparted to the sprocket 30 and the elevator chain 33 which is trained around said sproel'et is set in motion. The

elevator chain 33 carries at intervals the blades 3lwhich are adapted to ride behind the ears of corn and carry them up t-he elevator frame and deliver' them into a spout 35 through which they will pass into the wagon. rihe elevator chain passes around a sprocket 36 at the upper end of the elevator frame and the blades ride upon the bottom. plate ofthe elevator frame so that the ears of corn will be supported by said plate and pushed over the same by the blades. Upon the side of the main plate ll of the elevator frame, l secure a lived knife 37 which cooperates with the rotating knife 3P` whereby the ears of corn will be positively severed from the stalks, and a guard v39 is secured to the frame in rear of the knife and extends forwardly and downwardly past the same so that the corn stalks will be guided to theV cutters, and to insure the cutters acting upon all the ears a defiector 40 is secured to the inner side of said guard and projects later ally therefrom to a point close to the cutters whereby to press the corn stalks toward the cutters so that the ears may be severed from the stalks by the knife 3S. This deflector may conveniently be a leaf spring so that it will effectually perform its allotted'function without crushing or otherwise injuring the corn. `It will also be readily understood that the guard 39 has its front terminal v close to the surface of the ground `so that it will ride under and picklupthe stalks which may have fallen so that they will be brought into standing position and acted upon by the knives. lThe knife 38`is carried by a short shaft lll which is journaled in the ele- Vvater fra-me kand equipped with a beveled Ay gear ft2 meshing with a beveled pinion i3 Von the transmission shaft 22. Y

The shaft 22 is obviously disposed longitudinally of the elevator frame and the up- 4Vperend thereof is 'disposed at a point in rear of the rear end of the slot 2st. Below thesl'ot 2l spiralhusking blades le are carried bythe said' shaft and cooperate with a 'fixed husking blade e5 on the elevator frame y to grip the husks and4 strip the same from the ears as the corn is carried over the slot by the elevator. Between the blades 44, filler plates i6 are provided to support the ears of corn and prevent them dropping between the blades to the ground.V

To the front end of the partition 27, l secure a bracket 47 and to the said bracket l secure a lifting finger consisting of a bar 27S doubled upon itself into V-form, as shown in rig. 2,V and extending forwardly and ,lownwardly, as shown most clearly in Fig. l.. Fallen stalks will be raised by this finger and. to prevent them dropping onto the` gearing and clicking the same, the linger is covered with a plate 4:9. this plate vbeing omitted from Figf2 in order that the gearingl may be'seen. 4

lt is thought the operation will be readily understood from'what has been said.' rlhe harvester is connected with a wagon so as to run close to the side of theV samealong a row of corn and, as it proceeds. motion will be imparted tothe main shaft 18 from the driving gear i6 and thence transmitted through the gears 2O and 2l to the transmission shaft 22. The shaft 22 will directly actuate theelevator and the rotary knife 38 which cut the ears from the stalks and,

inasmuch as the presser" 40 holds the stalks toward the elevator, the severed ears will drop onto the elevator frame in position Vto be immediately Yengaged by the blades of the elevator. The guard 39 is 0spac'ed'from the elevator frame just enough to admit the' stalks and any ears which'may present themselves toy the guard will be pushed |over to the elevator by the guard'and the deflector e0. the deflector projecting close'to the path of the rotating knife. Any ears which may be below the level of the cutter will be raised thereto by the combined action of the deflector, the guardv 39 and the elevator.

"aidedby theforward travel of the machine.V

jtny'ears which may be above the level of the cutter will be brought to the same by the slight bending of the stalk as'it naturally yields to theimpact of the advancing mechanism.V TheV outer run ofthe elevator is traveling upwardly, as will beA understood, and the blades vthereon push the ears of corn upwardly and continuously so that'they tend to drop through the slot 24:,-but this tendency to drop'simply causes the husks to be engaged by the blades 44 and 45 and pinched between said blades so thatthey will be 'st-ripped from-the cobs. The' blades 3e, of course, remain in Contact with theV earsV 'of corn during the husking operation and move'the same continuously upwardly so that they will clear the slot24 and beV conveyed tothe upperend of the 4elevator and delivered into the spout 35 which discharges them into thewagon body.

It will be readily noted that I have provided a device of simple construction and compact arrangement which operates easily and directly to harvest the corn and deliver the stripped corn into the wagon body ready for storage in the bin. rl`he apparatus may be readily connected with or disconnected from any `farm wagon and will not interfere with the ordinary use of the wagon in any way. No change in the wagon is necessary when the harvester is to be used as the harvester is driven from power generated by its own traction wheel 9.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A corn harvester comprising a main frame, a traction wheel mounted in said frame, means for attaching said frame to a wagon, an elevator frame supported on said main Jframe, means on the elevator frame for removing ears of corn from the stalks, means on the elevator trame above the earremoving means for removing the husks from the ears, means for effecting travel of the ears upwardly over the elevator frame past said husking means and delivering the ears into a wagon, and means driven by said traction wheel for actuating the ear-removing means. the husking means, and the means for elevating the corn.

2. In a corn harvester, the combination of an inclined frame, a fixed straight husking knife secured longitudinally on said frame, spiral husking blades disposed longitudinally of the frame adjacent said lixed husking knife to cooperate therewith, means for rotating said spiral husking blades, and a conveyor traveling over the inclined frame to carry ears of corn over said husking blades.

8. In a corn harvester, the combination oi an inclined frame plate, shafts journaled in and projecting above said plate at the ends f the same, means operatively connected with the lower shaft to rotate the same, sprockets on the upper ends of said shafts, an elevator chain trained around the said sprockets, blades carried by said chain to tra-vel over the frame plate, a cutter mounted at the outer edge of said plate, means for rotating said cutter whereby to sever ears of corn from the stalks, the severed ears being engaged by the blades, means disposed below and projecting through the frame plate above the cutter to remove husks from the ears, and means for operating said husking means.

4. In a corn harvester, the combination or an inclined elevator trame, an elevator mounted on said frame, a lined knife carried by the outer side oi said trame, a vertically disposed knife mounted on the outer side ot the frame to co-operate with the fixed knife and rotate about a horizontal axis, a guard connected to the elevator frame in rear of the knives and extending downwardly and forwardly in parallel spaced relation to the frame, and a deilector on the inner side of the guard adjacent the knives to press stalks to the knives.

MILLARD K. BROWN. [1.. s j 

